Video: Erikson's Identity vs. Role Confusion in Adolescent Development

Adolescents often rebel against their parents and try out new and different things. In this lesson, we'll look at Erik Erikson's theory of adolescent development, including how resolving a psychosocial crisis can lead to fidelity in interpersonal relationships.

Natalie is a teacher and holds an MA in English Education and is in progress on her PhD in psychology.

Adolescents often rebel against their parents and try out new and different things. In this lesson, we'll look at Erik Erikson's theory of adolescent development, including how resolving a psychosocial crisis can lead to fidelity in interpersonal relationships.

Adolescent Development

Chaya is 15, and lately she's been driving her parents a little crazy. She used to be a very obedient daughter. She dressed appropriately, got good grades and generally did what her parents expected her to do. All in all, she was a good girl.

But recently, things have changed. She's started dressing differently, and she dyed her hair blue. She isn't listening to her parents as much anymore. Just last week, she told her mom that she wasn't going to become a doctor, like her parents want. In fact, she said that she might not even go to college!

Chaya is in adolescence, or the period of life between childhood and adulthood. This is usually seen as being between ages 12 and 20. Like Chaya, many adolescents begin to change and rebel. They explore new ideas about themselves and their place in the world. Psychologist Erik Erikson said that this exploration is part of a psychosocial crisis, or a developmental period when a person has to resolve a conflict in his or her own life.

Let's look closer at the psychosocial crisis that is common in adolescence, identity versus role confusion, and what happens when an adolescent resolves that conflict.

Identity vs. Role Confusion

Remember Chaya? She's rebelling against her parents, changing before their very eyes. She's resisting their expectations of her and trying out new and different aspects of herself.

Chaya is displaying the adolescent psychosocial crisis that will either lead her to identity, or knowing who she is and what she believes, or to role confusion, or not being sure of who she is or what she believes. Remember that this is called a psychosocial crisis, or sometimes a psychosocial conflict. In fact, a key part of adolescence is exploring the two parts of the word 'psychosocial.'

Think about it like this: Chaya is exploring and experimenting with different aspects of herself. She is dressing differently, dying her hair, making up her own mind about college and other aspects of her life. These are all part of her inner self: her psychology, which is the first part of psychosocial.

On the other hand, her parents and the rest of society expect certain things from her. They expect her to dress and act like a girl. They expect her to behave and have her hair a certain way. They pressure her to do certain things and be certain things. Society is the second part of psychosocial, and it's all about external forces.

In adolescence, many people find that the tension between the internal forces of the self and the external forces of society is particularly high. Just like Chaya, adolescents begin to explore different roles, or ideas about themselves. They may change their behavior or physical looks. They might change their minds about what they want to do with their lives. They are experimenting with who they are and what that means.

If Chaya's parents and friends are supportive of her and allow some amount of experimentation with roles, Chaya will likely end up with a cohesive, full identity that expresses who she is.

But what if her parents and friends are not supportive of her? What if Chaya lives in a society that denies her the ability to experiment with roles and explore who she is as an individual? Well, then Chaya will likely end up in role confusion. She might not feel like she knows who she is deep down, or she might go through life constantly playing the part that her parents or friends want her to play.

Fidelity

So, what's the big deal with identity and role confusion? Why should Chaya develop cohesive identity?

There are many benefits to having a cohesive identity. For one thing, people who end up in role confusion often feel dissatisfied and kind of drift from one thing to another. They might have trouble figuring out what they want from life or relationships.

But most importantly, people in role confusion do not develop fidelity, which Erikson defined as being able to relate to people in a sincere, genuine way. Good relationships have a strong foundation of fidelity.

If an adolescent, like Chaya, is able to resolve the identity versus role confusion conflict and end up with a cohesive identity, she will be able to display fidelity in her relationships with others. If she doesn't end up with a cohesive identity, she is likely not going to have fidelity in her relationships.

For example, let's say that Chaya ends up just following her parents' rules and expectations. She never experiments with who she is or explores what she wants. She grows up into a woman who dresses and acts like her parents expect her to, and she goes to college and medical school to become the doctor that her parents want her to be.

But deep down, Chaya doesn't really know who she is. When she's with other people, she has a tendency to go along with what they say and think because she doesn't know what she thinks or believes, and she doesn't know how to express herself.

When she finds a boyfriend, Chaya goes along with everything that he says; if he wants to go a certain place on vacation, that's fine with her. If he wants her to dress a certain way, that's what she'll do. She reads the books and listens to the music that he likes, too.

Meanwhile, her friends have different opinions of things than her boyfriend does. They think Chaya should dress a different way, and they like different books and music than her boyfriend does. When she's around her friends, she goes along with them; she dresses the way they want her to and talks about the things that they want to talk about.

Chaya is not demonstrating fidelity. That is, she is not being completely genuine with the people around her. Either because she doesn't have an opinion or because she's not able to express her opinions, she's never able to assert herself and tell her boyfriend or her friends what clothes or books or music she really likes. As a result, she will likely not be very happy, and her friends and boyfriend will likely never get to see the 'real' Chaya.

Lesson Summary

Adolescence is the period of life between childhood and adulthood. According to psychologist Erik Erikson, adolescents go through the psychosocial crisis of identity versus role confusion, which involves exploring who they are as individuals. A person who successfully resolves that conflict will end up with a cohesive identity and be able to demonstrate fidelity in his or her interpersonal relationships.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this lesson you should be able to:

Define adolescence and psychosocial crisis

Explain the role society and individual psychology play in the adolescent psychosocial crisis

Contrast identity and role confusion and identify the causes that can lead to each outcome

Summary:

Earning College Credit

Did you know… We have over 160 college
courses that prepare you to earn
credit by exam that is accepted by over 1,500 colleges and universities. You can test out of the
first two years of college and save thousands off your degree. Anyone can earn
credit-by-exam regardless of age or education level.